Harlow
Harlow is given to both girls and boys: 981 girls and 167 boys were given it in 2025 (#309 among girls’ names and #1,214 among boys’, #579 among all names counting both); 16,655 Americans have been recorded with it since 1882 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 15,400 Americans named Harlow and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (92% of everyone recorded); the median is 7 years old and half are between 4 and 11.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Harlow by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Harlow mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Harlow is “a unisex given name transferred from the surname.” Its etymology gives the senses “rock” (hær) and “army” (here) and “hill” (hlæw).
From Old English hær (“rock”) or here (“army”) + hlæw (“hill”).
/ˈhaɹ.loʊ/
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Harlow?
#309 among girls’ names, 2025
Harlow rose from #422 in 2015 to #309 in 2025 among girls’ names; its share of girls born rose from 0.43 to 0.61 per 1,000.
1,455 babies in 2023, the peak
Harlow peaked in 2023, when 1,455 babies were given it (1,273 girls, #238 among girls’ names). The 1,148 births of 2025 (girls and boys) are 79% of that peak.
Births by sex.
| Year | Girls | Girls’ rank | Boys | Boys’ rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 981 | #309 | 167 | #1,214 |
| 2024 | 1,083 | #293 | 159 | #1,246 |
| 2023 | 1,273 | #238 | 182 | #1,151 |
| 2022 | 1,199 | #263 | 166 | #1,201 |
| 2021 | 1,278 | #237 | 86 | #1,818 |
| 2020 | 959 | #324 | 61 | #2,246 |
| 2019 | 1,009 | #316 | 45 | #2,777 |
| 2018 | 863 | #366 | 46 | #2,684 |
| 2017 | 798 | #390 | 38 | #3,087 |
| 2016 | 786 | #420 | 35 | #3,249 |
Every recorded year (104)
| Year | Girls | Girls’ rank | Boys | Boys’ rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 759 | #422 | 24 | #4,209 |
| 2014 | 611 | #509 | 35 | #3,170 |
| 2013 | 545 | #546 | 31 | #3,437 |
| 2012 | 507 | #579 | 33 | #3,321 |
| 2011 | 465 | #623 | 13 | #6,361 |
| 2010 | 354 | #777 | 21 | #4,574 |
| 2009 | 301 | #905 | 18 | #5,167 |
| 2008 | 133 | #1,679 | 10 | #7,889 |
| 2007 | 28 | #5,142 | under 5 | |
| 2006 | 15 | #8,004 | 9 | #8,246 |
| 2005 | 11 | #9,683 | under 5 | |
| 2004 | 12 | #8,896 | under 5 | |
| 2003 | 10 | #9,932 | 6 | #10,024 |
| 2002 | 6 | #14,221 | under 5 | |
| 1995 | under 5 | 5 | #9,356 | |
| 1991 | under 5 | 5 | #8,675 | |
| 1988 | under 5 | 5 | #7,703 | |
| 1977 | under 5 | 5 | #6,219 | |
| 1976 | under 5 | 7 | #4,599 | |
| 1973 | under 5 | 9 | #3,544 | |
| 1970 | under 5 | 6 | #4,437 | |
| 1969 | under 5 | 10 | #2,939 | |
| 1965 | under 5 | 5 | #4,136 | |
| 1964 | under 5 | 5 | #4,276 | |
| 1962 | under 5 | 8 | #3,148 | |
| 1961 | under 5 | 14 | #2,278 | |
| 1960 | under 5 | 9 | #2,952 | |
| 1959 | under 5 | 10 | #2,721 | |
| 1958 | under 5 | 12 | #2,421 | |
| 1957 | under 5 | 8 | #3,114 | |
| 1956 | under 5 | 20 | #1,777 | |
| 1955 | under 5 | 12 | #2,357 | |
| 1954 | under 5 | 12 | #2,361 | |
| 1953 | under 5 | 16 | #1,993 | |
| 1952 | under 5 | 17 | #1,892 | |
| 1951 | under 5 | 11 | #2,421 | |
| 1950 | under 5 | 15 | #1,968 | |
| 1949 | under 5 | 17 | #1,849 | |
| 1948 | under 5 | 19 | #1,731 | |
| 1947 | under 5 | 23 | #1,571 | |
| 1946 | under 5 | 19 | #1,664 | |
| 1945 | under 5 | 21 | #1,465 | |
| 1944 | under 5 | 27 | #1,296 | |
| 1943 | under 5 | 19 | #1,662 | |
| 1942 | under 5 | 21 | #1,557 | |
| 1941 | under 5 | 26 | #1,312 | |
| 1940 | under 5 | 33 | #1,168 | |
| 1939 | under 5 | 28 | #1,252 | |
| 1938 | under 5 | 31 | #1,180 | |
| 1937 | under 5 | 27 | #1,296 | |
| 1936 | under 5 | 41 | #980 | |
| 1935 | under 5 | 31 | #1,213 | |
| 1934 | under 5 | 36 | #1,107 | |
| 1933 | under 5 | 31 | #1,191 | |
| 1932 | under 5 | 38 | #1,098 | |
| 1931 | under 5 | 33 | #1,202 | |
| 1930 | under 5 | 29 | #1,350 | |
| 1929 | under 5 | 26 | #1,426 | |
| 1928 | under 5 | 26 | #1,471 | |
| 1927 | under 5 | 44 | #1,070 | |
| 1926 | under 5 | 37 | #1,181 | |
| 1925 | under 5 | 23 | #1,604 | |
| 1924 | under 5 | 32 | #1,308 | |
| 1923 | under 5 | 36 | #1,202 | |
| 1922 | under 5 | 31 | #1,319 | |
| 1921 | under 5 | 42 | #1,095 | |
| 1920 | under 5 | 32 | #1,287 | |
| 1919 | under 5 | 33 | #1,238 | |
| 1918 | under 5 | 45 | #1,003 | |
| 1917 | under 5 | 32 | #1,206 | |
| 1916 | under 5 | 46 | #943 | |
| 1915 | under 5 | 36 | #1,075 | |
| 1914 | under 5 | 30 | #1,034 | |
| 1913 | under 5 | 21 | #1,128 | |
| 1912 | under 5 | 20 | #1,045 | |
| 1911 | under 5 | 6 | #1,626 | |
| 1910 | under 5 | 5 | #1,694 | |
| 1906 | under 5 | 8 | #960 | |
| 1905 | under 5 | 6 | #1,156 | |
| 1904 | under 5 | 7 | #1,010 | |
| 1901 | under 5 | 5 | #1,120 | |
| 1900 | under 5 | 10 | #869 | |
| 1898 | under 5 | 7 | #927 | |
| 1896 | under 5 | 5 | #1,166 | |
| 1895 | under 5 | 7 | #925 | |
| 1894 | under 5 | 5 | #1,155 | |
| 1893 | under 5 | 5 | #1,104 | |
| 1892 | under 5 | 6 | #1,008 | |
| 1891 | under 5 | 6 | #896 | |
| 1887 | under 5 | 5 | #989 | |
| 1885 | under 5 | 5 | #1,004 | |
| 1884 | under 5 | 8 | #721 | |
| 1883 | under 5 | 5 | #959 | |
| 1882 | under 5 | 5 | #1,001 |
Ranks: girls’ names and boys’ names ranked separately in each year’s SSA file; “under 5” is a year SSA did not list the name for that sex.
Is Harlow a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Of the 16,655 Americans recorded as Harlow, 84% are girls and 16% boys.
Years with fewer than 20 babies given the name are left blank.
Girls and boys named Harlow: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Harlow, and how old are they?
15,400 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 92% of the 16,655 Americans ever recorded as Harlow. The median Harlow alive today is 7 years old; half are between 4 and 11.
The 2020 Census counted 7,566 people named Harlow (6,714 women and girls, 852 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 8,201 born in the U.S. The Census count is 8% below that prediction.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 94 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 155 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 37 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 14 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 1,940 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 13,100 |
An estimate, not a count. SSA’s files count people born in the United States who received a Social Security number, so anyone born abroad is not in them; before 1937 most people got a number as adults, and their survival is counted from that age.
Living estimate: SSA births carried forward with the survival rates in SSA’s cohort life tables (2024 Trustees Report) for each birth year and sex. How the estimate is made. Count: Census Bureau, first names in the 2020 Census (released April 14, 2026; names reported 100 or more times, with the Bureau’s disclosure-avoidance adjustment).
Where are babies named Harlow born?
The states with the most babies named Harlow are California, Texas and Georgia, with 24% of its births recorded by state in 2025.
| State | Births 2025 | Rank, girls | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| California | 120 | #310 | 0.9× |
| Texas | 84 | #462 | 0.6× |
| Georgia | 45 | #235 | 0.6× |
| Ohio | 44 | #310 | 1.0× |
| Florida | 42 | #494 | 0.6× |
| New York | 40 | #431 | 0.6× |
| Pennsylvania | 40 | #273 | 0.7× |
| Michigan | 39 | #309 | 1.0× |
| Minnesota | 37 | #168 | 1.5× |
| North Carolina | 34 | #323 | 0.6× |
Where Harlow is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Harlow is most over-represented in Oregon: since 1910 it was given 1.8 times as often there as its national share each year would predict.
States: SSA state file, 1910-2025, published May 8, 2026; births count girls and boys together, and the rank is among girls’ names in the state in 2025. The file leaves out any state and year with fewer than 5 babies of the name, so small states are undercounted; each ratio compares the state’s births of Harlow with the births its national share predicts year by year, for states with at least 100 births of the name.
Names that rose and fell in the same decades as Harlow
Names whose births rose and fell across the same decades, measured on each decade’s share of births.
Similar histories: each decade’s share of births, from the SSA national file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
More about Harlow and names like it
- Compare Harlow and LoyaltyBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 2020sHarlow peaked in 2023.
- California’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Harlow since 1910.
- From surnamesWiktionary’s origin for Harlow: every such name, by how often it is given.
- The top names of 2023The year the most babies were named Harlow.
- The names of Generation AlphaMost people named Harlow alive today were born 2013-2025.
- Names starting with HMost given first.